Analysis of usage of the questionnaire method in the study of epidemiology of stress urinary incontinence among women: influence on quality of life
The objective: to investigate the epidemiology of the stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and common lower urinary tract symptoms and the related quality of life among women of different age groups of the selected population by the questionnaire method. Materials and methods. Questionnaires of 49 women of all ages, who were not treated for urologic complaints at the time of the survey, were analyzed. The anamnestic part of the Petros questionnaire and short forms Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ-7) were selected for survey. The age distribution is based on qualitative age ranges recommended by WHO. Results. In all, 63% of women surveyed had complaints related with urinary disorders; the most common lower urinary tract symptom was SUI, which worried 41% of all women. The prevalence of SUI among women of different age groups varied: in young and mature women – 35%, significantly increased in middle-aged women and decreased in elderly women. All middle-aged and elderly women had lower urinary tract symptoms. Among the recognized risk factor for SUI was statistically significant cough (p<0.05) with an average association between risk factor and disease. About 61% of patients with urinary incontinence indicated that their symptoms affected quality of life. Conclusions. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire confirmed the feasibility of using UDI-6 and IIQ-7 in epidemiological studies of UI among women. The results of the work performed may be qualified as partial validation of the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 questionnaires in terms of assessing their reliability. Keywords: urinary incontinence among women, stress urinary incontinence among women, lower urinary tract symptoms among women, quality of life, risk factors, questionnaires.